PRESS CONTACT:
Irene Borak
Director of Public Relations
10775 N. St. Helen Road
Roscommon, MI 48653
(989) 275-5000 ext. 242
ROSCOMMON – Firebirds head coach Glenn Donahue returned to the bench after more than a month of absence only to have to watch his men’s basketball team lose two in the Tip-Off Classic, hosted Nov. 11-12 at Macomb Community College in Warren.
Donahue has been recovering from quadruple heart bypass surgery, while Kirtland’s assistant men’s basketball coach Craig Hofman has been putting the Firebirds through their paces.
Hofman said, despite the large amount of talent on the team, it may have been a case of “first-game jitters” that contributed to the pair of losses in the Firebirds’ 2005-2006 season opener. The Firebirds lost 92-83 to a solid Lake Michigan Community College team, then went down again, 80-75, against Sheridan College of Oakville, Ont.
Against LMCC, Tony Brown, of Battle Creek, topped the scoring list for the Firebirds with 19 points, followed by Juandrell Lewis, of Detroit, with 14. Sal Kabera, a native of the Central African Republic, scored 9 points and added 13 rebounds.
The loss to Sheridan College was made more palatable by the fact that four Firebirds were in double digits by the end of the game. Brown again led with 15 points and 5 assists. He was followed by Demarvelous Carter, of Romulus, with 12 points. Lewis and Kabara each added 11 points, with Kabara grabbing 10 rebounds on one end of the court, and 5 blocks on the other.
Whittemore native Darrin Wilson added 5 rebounds to the Firebirds’ effort, while Dave Blanchard, of Houghton Lake, came in with 3 steals.
Kirtland’s men’s team travels downstate Monday, Nov. 14, to take on Grand Rapids Community College. Both the men’s and women’s teams open their home seasons when they host Lansing Community College at the CRAF Center in Roscommon on Tuesday, Nov. 22. The women’s game begins at 5:30 p.m., while the men are set to begin at 7:30 p.m.